Charity Fair 2018

Summary: There are lots of problems in the world, from poverty to a lack of education, the people in these situations can't get them selves out of the situation. A few individuals with kind hearts and a passion for helping other form different groups called charities. These groups specialize in aid people that have severe problems that affect the way that they live everyday. They couldn't do it alone, because a few people to don't have the money to take on an issue like world hunger, but instead they enlist the help of the people to allow them to solve to problems of those in need.

Backward-Looking
Every year we do the charity fair, it's considered to be the biggest event we hold each year. In the past charity fair has been incredibly hard for me. Most of the time I was in a smaller group, which meant that everyone had to do a boatload of work. The hardest part being all of the calculations that we had to do in math, where we and to look through all of our charities fiscal records and see how much they made in one year.

Inward-Looking
When I was working on charity fair I learned that as I grew as a person the work that once seemed hard to me feels much less stressful. Now that I am one year away from high school,  all of the things that used to take me days to complete take much less time to do than before. While in previous years I felt incredibly stressed out by all of the work that we had to do for charity fair, but this year I didn't fell that way.

Outward-Looking
If I were a teacher looking at all of the work that we did for charity fair this year, then I would give the project a B+, because some of the work that had been done was not formatted in the correct way, and we didn't bring our business cards to the event. The rest of the things in the project were phenomenal, and looked incredible.

Forward-Looking
One thing I would like to improve upon is my work ethic, because during the project I didn't do as much for the team as I would have liked to. During the project I slacked off some of the time and looking forward I would like to have been less of a dead weight for the team. I helped out only some of the time rather than all of the time.

Speed and Velocity

Distance-time graph example By: Sjlegg

Summary: Speed and velocity are a classic example of scalars and vectors, because speed is only the magnitude of how fast something is going, while velocity is not only the speed but also the direction the object is going. To find the speed of an object, you have to put the distance over the time of an object, and to find the velocity of an object you must put: distance former minus distance latter over time former minus time latter.

SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data
In order to find the speed of various cars, we put them on a ramp and let go, we recorded the time and distance of all of the cars. After we put them in a data table and found the average speed and time of every car. We then plotted the points on a graph and drew a straight line to the origin. Afterwards we found the slope of the line, which was the speed of the cars. We then used that information to order the cars from fastest to slowest.

XCC: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

There are multiple ways to measure speed, these ways are various unit rates. The unit rate that is for the standard scale is meters per second, or m/s. For smaller scales it is centimeters per second or cm/s, and larger scales it's kilometers per hour, or km/hr. Seeing how different scales function allows one to notice how various objects move and what outside forces affect somethings velocity changes.

Saclars and Vectors

Coord planes color vector By: Michaelnelson

Summary: In physics, there are two types of ways that people measure quantities in, scalars and vectors. A scalar quantity is when the only thing that is measured is the magnitude, like speed or power. A vector not only measures a magnitude, but it also measures direction, like up or down, north, south, east, and west. When a vector is changed, acceleration happens; if a car is going at a constant speed and turns a corner, it's accelerating because a change in the direction is happening. If a change in the direction is happening that means that a vector is being changed, so acceleration is happening.

SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data
To test our knowledge on scalars and vectors we were given a variety of small situations in which we had to decide whether something was a scalar or a vector. The various situations that we were given had a speed, and the ones that were vector quantities had an associated direction as well. Some of the problems that we were given were images, which made it harder to decide whether something was a scalar or a vector.

XCC:
When talking about scalars and vectors it is impossible to ignore the fact that they largely have to do with scale and quantity. The magnitude is the part where seeing scales and quantities is the easiest. Things like speed and power can be easily scaled compared to other forces of similar qualities. Using a scale, you can also quantify how fast something is, how strong something is, and various other units of measurement.

Carbon Footprint

Summary: Almost anything that we do produces carbon emissions, but somethings more than others. Transportation of goods is one of the largest producers of carbon emissions in the world. Due to the excessive burning of fossil fuels, people need to watch how much the world is affected by what they order online. Your carbon footprint is how much carbon one produces when ordering an item online. The further the materials an item is made out of from its manufacturer that makes the item it means that more carbon is produced.

SP2: Developing and using models:
During class we made a model in the form of a map. We used the map to display how the materials in our product traveled over a period of time. We used the information that we gained from our map to calculate the various amounts of carbon emissions that the product produced while traveling to the manufacturer, then to the retailer, and finally to our team.

XCC: Energy and Matter:
The system of harvesting materials transporting them to make them into a product, is powered by fossil fuels and other forms of energy to transport goods. In the middle of the transportation process the fuel that is being burned is converting heat into energy, allowing to vehicle to move forward. This ultimately leads into the production of carbon emissions that harm the world, heating it up indefinitely.

Designer Species Project

Summary: When a particular type of animal is placed into an environment it changes not only based off of the the plants and structures of the ecosystem, but it also changes depending on what organisms are in the habitat as well. An animal that tries to avoid a predator that is fast would evolve to be much more sneaky that an animal that tries to avoid another animal that is incredibly fast. The reason today why rats are so fast and sneaky is that they evolved to avoid humans, as most of the time they would get killed by them. This is true across every organism, like how a loin would evolve to sneak up on its prey, as its prey is very fast.

Backward-Looking
In or out of school I have never done a kind of work that requires as much creativity as this one, where the only limitations you have is that it has to make sense, and it has to be based off of the environment it resides in.  With little limitations it allows the creativity to run wild, creating something that you can feel attached to like most other projects where you just follow the guidelines and your done.

Inward-Looking
The thing I like the most about this project is the fact that it is flowing with creativity and originality, showing how my mind works and not how it reacts to various tasks. The one thing I dislike about the project is that some of the reasons that our organism evolved to be the way that it is are kind of bad, most of our ideas were thought up before we chose our scenario, so we built our reasons around the environment and not the organism.

Outward-Looking
If I were to give this project a grade I would give it a B-, because there was a lack of thought involved with some parts of the project. Rather than choosing an scenario and then thinking up our organism around the environment, we made our organism first then chose the environment. We then came up with various reasons that the organism would evolve to be this way.

Forward-Looking
The one goal I would like to set for next time is:

rather than impeding the final outcome of the project by choosing what I want to do first, then looking at the scenario. I will look at the scenario first, then make decisions based off of the scenario rather than the basic task. Allowing me to be more efficient and have a better work ethic to make a better project, and enjoying it along the way.

How different environments impacts the evolution of an organism

Crituqe of the Theory of Evolution  By: Thomas Hunt Morgan

When looking at how drastically different animals are depending on where they originated, it comes to mind how the environment would impact the evolution of a specific organism. When organisms such as the rodent or cockroach evolve, they adapt very differently to where they are, such as how a cockroach from America would be much more resistant to various bug sprays as a cockroach from Africa. Also how a mouse from Russia would be much more adapted to the cold, rather than a mouse from Japan.

SP6: Constructing explanations and designing solutions
During class we were given the task of designing an organism around the basis on a planet, showing how the planet would affect the evolution of the organism. The planet we decided on was tropical, with the biggest threats to life was a carnivorous snake, and a plant on the ground that poisons an organism upon touch killing it. We designed around those two points by making an organism that flies and swims, it focuses mainly of speed, but if it were to get attacked its second line of defense is an electric shock that would be able to stun or kill a foe. It hunts primarily in the water for small fish.

XCC: Structure and Function
In various habitats, organisms have various functions that helps them hunt, and live long enough to reproduce. The structure of a mouse is based off of the country it lives in, like if a mouse were to live in a cold environment it would evolve to have a thicker coat of fur to keep itself warm. While a mouse in a warmer climate might evolve to be more fast than its cold counter part, focusing on stealing food, rather than scavenging as that would be the easiest way to support its source of food.  

Cladograms

Cladogram By: Alexi Kouprianov

Because of the Earth's long history, and that all living organisms are related, there was a need for a way to sort all or a section of the living species on earth showing how they are related. That's where the cladogram comes in, it's a way the biologists use to sort various species based on all of the traits that they have in common. The farther up a cladogram a species is, the more specific traits it has. If a fish is at the bottom of a cladogram, and a bird is a the top, that means they are not closely related and the bird has more specific traits than the fish.

SP2: Developing and using models
During class we were given a sheet of paper that had 5 different animals on it, we sorted the various traits that each organism had onto a table, we then used a venn diagrams to further sort what traits each organism shared. After that we organized the organisms into a cladogram based off of what traits the each organism shared.

XCC:
When looking at a cladogram, there are multiple patterns that you can see, the farther up the cladogram an animal is, the more traits it has. The lowe an organism is on a cladogram, the less specific traits the organism has in comparison to the other organisms on the cladogram. Depending on what is on the cladogram different organisms might be higher or lower on the cladogram.

The Evidence of Evolution

Haeckel drawings By: Phlebas

There are various form of evidence that can prove how evolution exists, and what changes evolution has caused various creatures to go through. One of the many forms of proof is the fossil record, in which we look for fossils of the same species, and see how they changed by looking through how old each fossil is and the differences between each fossil. Another one of the many forms of proof is embryology, which Charles Darwin, the man who made the theory of natural selection, is the strongest evidence for evolution. When we look at embryos we can see the similarities between each species to see how closely related different organisms are to each other. Such as how lots of embryos look similar when they are first conceived.

SP2: Developing and using models
When we were studying the fossil record, and how it can be used as evidence for evolution, we made a poster that had various pictures of one species of animal, showing how it evolved over time. As time went on during the model, the creature started getting more and more complex with each change in the fossil. We also got a paper with various embryos of different species on it, we colored in each embryo a single color, until an embryo would physically differentiate from the others, showing us how closely related our species are to other species.

XCC: Patterns
Looking at the changes in various embryos and fossils, it is possible to see a pattern form in different species. When to species of organisms, are closely related via a common ancestor, you can see that in their fossils, and embryos. When you look at the bone structure, you can see that they have a similar number of bones, that work in similar ways, like how a monkey and a humans bone structures are similar. When looking at the embryos of two closely related animals, the closer they are to being related, the longer the embryos will stay the same visually.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin 1880 By: Elliot & Fry

Charles Darwin is a scientist that lived in the 19th century and made major break troughs when is came to evolution. Charles Darwin was studying Finches on the Galápagos islands, when one day he noticed that on each different islands, the finches had different characteristics. He also noticed that each type of finch was better suited for its environment, than the other types of finches. He then made the hypothesis that that animals with more survivable traits would reproduce, while animals that don't have those traits would die without reproducing. This process would later be known as natural selection.


SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data
While we were studying the effect of the amount of rainfall that occurred each year would cause to the deepness of a finches beak, we had studied graphs, and determined how the beaks of the finches changed, if it was significant or not, and what the cause was. We then used that data to make predictions on how different amounts of rainfall would affect the finch population.

XCC: Cause and effect
When the amount of rainfall changes, the size of finches beaks also change. When we look at the relationship between the amount of rain, and the size of finches beaks, we can learn how the finches will be effected due to major changes in the climate. We can also observe the mean average deviation for the rainfall before it starts effecting the finches. We can use this information to study not only finches, but various other organisms in a lab environment.

Evolution

Ape to Man By: Appalanaidu Pappala

Evolution is a change in the gene pool over the course of many generations. Evolution has 4 main forces that guide it so that animals can not only adapt to their environment, but also avoid death long enough to reproduce to their full potential. These 4 forces guiding evolution are: Mutations, Natural Selections, Genetic Drift, and Genetic Flow. Mutations are changes in the genes that are mostly random, and as such can have positive and negative effects of the mutated organism, though most mutations are neutral. Natural Selection is the process where animals that have more survivable traits can reproduce to their full potential, while animals that don't have the same gene die before they can reproduce. Genetic drift is the gradual loss of genes, most occurring in small populations of organisms. Genetic Flow is the transfer of genes from one population to another population.

SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data
In class, we did a lab in, which we recorded the data of M&Ms on a table as if they were a population going through evolution generations at a time. We looked at the table that we made and figured out if mutations had become a prevalent feature in the population. We also saw what affect having a smaller population of only select individuals would have to the gene pool.

XCC: Systems and System Models
In evolution, there are 4 different systems that dictate how an animal can change, like if an animal has natural camouflage to hide from predators, or the intelligence to make cover for them to hide in. With mutations that is mostly random, it doesn't tie into the other three functions as well either. But with the other three functions they tie into each other nicely, an animal moves from one population to another. That animal finds them self in a smaller population than before, it reproduces and over generations. That animals gene becomes more prominent, because not only is it a dominant trait, it is also more survivable so, animals that posses that trait are able to reproduce to their full potential. What just happened was not only genetic flow, but also genetic drift, and natural selection.

Are we in a 6th mass extinction?

Are we in a 6th mass extinction?

By: Michael Wilkinson

Throughout the geologic history of the Earth, there have been a multitude of different types of events. The most famous type of all is the mass extinction event. Due to various causes, most especially humanities impact on the Earth, we are going through an event, a mass extinction event. Though it is a bit different from the other events like this one. How is this event different from other extinction events that have happened in the past? Why is it different from other mass extinction events that have happened already?

The mass extinction we are in is different from others, in lots of different ways. From the type of extinction, to how long the extinction will take. The extinction is ongoing, so that rather than over a short period of time 70% of all life dies, that 70% of life will die out overtime. In the article, Mathematics Predicts a 6th mass extinction, Daniel Hoffman who was being interview said this: “This is not saying that disaster occurs the next day,” Rothman says. “It’s saying that, if left unchecked, the carbon cycle would move into a realm which would be no longer stable” If we were to reach that point, that is when we would be at the height of the mass extinction. The carbon cycle won’t reach its peak for a while though, as humanity will have to add a ton of carbon to the ocean, 300 gigatons, to be exact. Researcher Daniel Hoffman said in Mathematics Predicts a 6th mass extinction, that we wouldn’t reach that point until 2100. If the extinction event is so far away, then how come we are in a mass extinction event? Shouldn’t the mass extinction event start during 2100?

While we won’t hit the peak of the mass extinction event until 2100, the mass extinction event is still going on, rather than everyone dying almost instantly, it takes a long time for us all to die, so the extinction event is ongoing. In a study, the authors that had performed the study had said that the extinction event was ongoing. So, it will take a long time for the big results to show, but you can already see evidence in one place, when it comes to the event happening, in the world of animals. While in humans there hasn’t been any major population decreases, you can just look to the world of animals for evidence that we are in an extinction event. In the article: 6th mass extinction ‘the era of biological annihilation’ the author writes “Meanwhile, as this research shows, entire populations of other plants and animals are crashing, even if they're not yet on the brink of extinction. Some of these are well-known.” Couldn’t this all just be a coincidence, this could just be the effect that global warming has on the environment, and there is no extinction event that is going to happen?

Some people say that we aren’t in a sixth mass extinction event. That this isn’t like what happened millions of years ago, like in the Permian - Triassic Extinction event. The climate, they say- isn’t like the ones you would have seen earlier in the Earth’s history, the horrible skies the harsh air, that would have lasted, thousands, to maybe even millions of years. In the article, Paleo Expert: Earth is not in the Midst of a Sixth Mass Extinction, the author wrights: “By comparison, the hellscape of End-Permian mass extinction claimed upwards of 90 percent of all species on earth.” Saying that this is not like what other mass extinction events are like, that this is nothing like a mass extinction event. The thing about this mass extinction, is that it is different from other mass extinctions, it’s ongoing. We’re simply in the beginning of a new mass extinction event unlike ones that have happened before.

The effects of the mass extinction event are already showing. We are seeing the effects of pollution and other things that have taken a toll on the wildlife. Animals have been dying left and right these days, and it’s no better in places like the north pole, where the ice is melting and the climate is warming up, making it much harder for the wildlife up there to survive.

In the article, Sixth mass extinction: The era of 'biological annihilation' it is written that: “Their key findings: Nearly one-third of the 27,600 land-based mammal, bird, amphibian and reptile species studied are shrinking in terms of their numbers and territorial range. The researchers called that an "extremely high degree of population decay."” Meaning that almost ⅓ of the species on Earth are in decline right now. There is a lot to this mass extinction, like how it’s so special, why is all of this happening, how is it different, and where is the evidence of all of this happening?

Despite it being different from others, we are currently is a 6th mass extinction one that will be on the level of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, that killed the dinosaurs. The extinction is ongoing, and is different from other events, it will reach its peak in 2100, and it’s taking time for major results to show. But there is evidence to support this, the extinction rate of animals is climbing and it's going to be incredibly high by the time the extinction reaches its climax. The cause of the extinction is well known though, it’s that human are ruining the environment, and polluting the skies and water, which is devastating for the wildlife, and soon it will be dangerous for us.

Mesozoic Era

Geologic Time Scale By: Hayden Hogen-Esch

The Mesozoic era is an era in the geologic timescale, in which the dinosaurs were the main species of animal that ruled the land. This time is also when the first mammals appeared on Earth. During the Mesozoic, Pangaea was still formed, but it later split apart, into two different super continents, called: Gondwana and Laurasia. The climate in the Mesozoic era was much dryer compared the Paleozoic era, having much less marshland, and much more deserts. 

Backward-Looking
When it comes to making interactive posters I need to improve a lot more, because when it came to making a poster, all I really made was flaps that you could put up to see information. What I really want to do is find the perfect balance between putting in information, and user interactivity. So that when people look at the poster, they are not only interested, by the interactive parts, they also learn about the subject at hand.


Inward-Looking
One thing I found frustrating about the project was the fact that not all of the teammates did all of their work. Before one of the members could put any information on the board they left on a vacation, leaving one member to do a lot of the work. One member also couldn't finish their work in time so, the same member that picked up for the last persons slack, also finished their part of the project, which was frustrating for me to watch, and not be able to help as much.

Outward-Looking
If I were to give my part of the project a grade, I would give it a B, because I feel like it got out all of the information that it needed to get out, and also had some interactivity. But I feel like the project doesn't go beyond, it only does what it needs to do, and I would have put more information and I would make the user interact with the project more, and also in a better way.

Forward-Looking
One thing I would like to improve is my creativity, when making the project, I didn't have any real ideas on what to put on the poster, I knew I had to have some interactivity, so I put information on flaps and left it at that. I would like to make it more interesting for people to not only look at, but also to play with. I need to find more ways to ignite my imagination. 

 

Geologic Time Scale

Geologic Time Clock By: Woudlooper

The geologic time scale is a scale that represents the entire history of the earth, The geologic time scale is separated into different eons, which have eras in them, which have periods in them. Each period is separated by a geological event, such as a minor extinction event. Each era is separated based on a major geological change, such as a major extinction event. The geologic time scale is separated into four main eras, the Precambrian, the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic.

SP1: Asking questions and defining problems
The questions I asked in class were quite varied, I asked questions such as what killed the dinosaurs, and how did we know that? I defined problems with many different hypotheses proposed by different scientists. I used the problems that I found in each hypothesis to determine, which theory is the most accurate as to what actually happened. This allowed my to reach the most accurate data, I could think of.

XCC: Cause and Effect 
During the different eras there were many things that led to other things, like the meteor that caused a major extinction event at the end of the Mesozoic era, caused lots of dust particles, and other things to fly into the air, blocking out the sun. This caused the temperature on Earth to drop significantly, and cold blooded animals like the dinosaurs died out. That is when mammals took over, being able to scavenge for food, and their warm blood, and fur coats helped them out to. So, because the meteor hit the Earth, mammals were able to become a much more prominent type of animal. 
  

Rock Cycle

Rock Cycle By: Woudloper/Woodwalker

The rock cycle is the process in, which rocks change into different forms of rock, through processes like weathering and erosion. There are three types of rock, Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and Igneous. An important part of the rock cycle is any form of rock can change into any other form of rock. When a rock goes through weathering and erosion, then compression and compacting it turns into Sedimentary rock. When a rock goes through a lot of heat and pressure it turn into a Metamorphic rock. When a rock melts, and then it cools, it turns into an, Igneous rock.

SP2: Developing and using models
The model we used in class was a version of the rock cycle, where a student represents a rock in the rock cycle and we roll a dice to see where we are going next. Another model we used was gizmo that helped use describe the processes a rock goes through during the rock cycle, it also helped us see that there are various smaller cycles in the rock cycle.

XCC: Patterns
A pattern we observed in class, was the pattern that we use to find out the relative age in rocks, as in the age of a rock compared to the ones around it. The pattern that we saw was that, when rocks appear on multiple layers, those layers must be next to each other. If a rock is on one layer, but not the next then that rocks lifespan is over (We use fossils found in the rocks lifespans). Using these patterns we can find out the relative age of a rock.

Why I came back to AdVENTURE

I originally came to AdVENTURE because of its location relative to my house. Not only did it have better education system than my old school, a lot of people that were in my class were transferring there. I had gone to one of the exhibition nights to see what the school was all about. At the exhibition night I saw lots of cool projects, that made me want to go to the school even more. Since my old school didn't have grades I saw a rubric for the first time in my life. I was elated to find out that I got into the school.

I had barely gotten into AdVENTURE as I had gotten in through the waiting list. During my first year at AdVENTURE it was as good as I expected, the projects were fun to do, and all of my teachers were nice. I actually enjoyed learning for once in my life, I was trying hard to learn new things and get good grades on all of my projects. So when the end of the year came and I had to submit a paper to secure my spot for the next year, I was on it getting the paper back within the next few days, so that I could get to go back the next year.

Last year, was the most enjoyable by far. I met new people on the Herman side of campus and made friends with them. I also reconnected with people I had not been friends with before. I came out of my shell that year and I enjoyed every second of it. This year, I came back mostly because of what I experienced last year, I wanted to keep seeing the people I knew already. I don't feel like I would be comfortable at another school. I am glad I came back to AdVENTURE as I am enjoying this year as much as I enjoyed last year so far.

Stress 05/13

Summary: This week in class we learned about stress and the affect it can have on your body. Stress is your bodies reaction do dangerous and unfavorable events, like a car speeding at you, it's what helps your body react and get out of those situations. But stress isn't all good, if you are stressed out, you can get variety of different mental illnesses. like: Depression. There are a lot of coping strategies, though, and some, like: Deep Breathing, Meditation, can help people out a lot.

SP2: Developing and using models
 This week, developed an info graphic about stress and the affects it has on the human body after long periods of time. We also included information on how to cope with stress and get rid of it. We used these models to demonstrate our understanding of stress, and what causes it, and how it affects us, as humans.

Hype beast bear 05/03

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Teddy-Bear-30-Tan/dp/B00LG6K4YE

Summary: This week in class we learned about how making and transporting things affects the environment. After a material is extracted it is transported to the factory where the item is made, and depending on, which transportation method is chosen then a different amount of greenhouse gases are released into the air, contributing to climate change. At the factory, usually the making of the product itself doesn't hurt the environment but, factories use coal and other forms of non-clean energy to power, the factory. On the way to the store, we come across the same problems as we did when we transported the items to the factory.

Backward Looking, I knew a bit about how toys are made from natural resources, and how they affect the environment. I knew about this subject because before I went to this school, I did a project on Global Warming and what causes it. During the project itself I learned a lot about the affects of harvesting the natural resources.

Inward Looking, I found it very frustrating that I couldn't be of more help to my team, during the project. Since this project was about creating something I wasn't of much help beyond the documents that we did. I couldn't help more because I am not very good, at making things with my own hands, and since I joined the team late, they already had everything covered.

Outward Looking, we did things that were similar to other groups, like we made a stuffed bear, which other groups did do. What we did differently, was instead of sewing everything onto our stuffed bear, was we glued everything together. Other things that we did differently were, we made the bears body, out of a recycled sock, and we also put clothes on our bear.

Forward Looking, I hope to improve on my arts and crafts skills so I can be of more use to my team int the future. I would like to specifically, focus on my creativity so I can not only help make the idea for the project, but also help make the script for when we present. It will also help me find solutions to dilemmas I find in the real world, when I grow up.

Extraction and Harvesting 04/27

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fertilizer_applied_to_corn_field.jpg

Summary: This week in class we learned about extraction and harvesting. To extract or harvest is to get natural resources in a quick and manageable fashion. When people extract resources from the land, it destroys the land and all the homes that animals have made there. After resources have been extracted, they are transported to a factory and processes, which adds to carbon emissions.

SP6: Constructing explanations and designing solutions
This week in class we discussed the problem that extracting and harvest natural resources causes. We discussed possible solutions, like: Making the trucks that transport the resources electric, powering the factories using clean energy like solar power. On last solution would be: using old fashioned techniques to extract the materials and using regular factories to process the materials and ship them out.

Natural Resources 04/22

https://www.tes.com/lessons/XmIMYcGUEgbgRg/natural-resources

Summary: This week in class we learned about natural resources. A natural resource is something that can be found in nature and used in some way shape or form. Most natural resources are finite meaning that there is only a certain amount of them in the world. This is causing problems with natural resources like water, not being in places where people need it; like when California had its drought.

SP1: Asking questions and defining problems
This week in class we asked the question: How are natural resources used, and are the being used efficiently. We defined that while he are using some resources efficiently, we are not using other efficiently. Water for example is becoming rarer and rarer in today's society. We also determined that it would be very hard to change how resources are used, but that it is possible.

Landforms project 04/14

https://wikitravel.org/en/Mount_Fuji

Summary: This week in class we finished our land forms project. In the project we learned about how the plates in the Mantle affect different things on the top of the crust. The land form my team chose, Mt. Fuji is on top of a convergent boundary, this affected Mt. Fuji by making the volcano got dormant after three eruptions. There are different types of plate tectonics that cause different things to happen.

Backward looking, we had one problem when we were working on the project: my absence. After the project had started I got sick and I couldn't help my team when they were relying on me to help with the project. When I got back though I worked as hard as I could to help my team finish the project on time.

Inward looking, I found it frustrating that one of my teammates kept forgetting the clay that we needed for the model. We used the time in class to work on the proposal done, but the model was still the main part of the project. When they finally brought the clay it was almost time to be done with the project and the model did not come out the way I wanted it to.

Outward looking: if I was in the teachers shoes the comments I would make about the project would be mostly criticism. I would first say that the model doesn't even remotely resemble Mt. Fuji and could be any mountain. I would also say that we need to work on our presentation skills because no one in our team did well in that regard.

Forward looking, I think my team needs to improve upon how much we work, because I found that sometimes our team would stop working and start procrastinating instead of working. I need to improve on my leading skills in particular because when I noticed this happening I didn't stop them some of the times and jut let them do it.

Land forms 03/25

https://sites.google.com/a/teachers.wlcsd.org/mrs-marylou-clark/u-s-studies/landforms

Summary: This week in class we learned about land formations. A land formation is something that was created due to a change in the land. An example of a land form would be a mountain, which was caused by two plates crashing into each other, and both rising up. Islands are also land forms, as they are made when plates diverge and become underwater volcanoes, which then erupt and cool into a island.

SP2: Developing and using models
This week in class we had begun building models of certain land forms and show how they were created. We will use these models to provide evidence that the how the land on the Earth moves can create these land forms and how the Earth looks very much different from how it did millions of years ago.

Plate Tectonics 03/16

https://www.texasgateway.org/resource/plate-boundaries

Summary: This week in class we learned about the different ways that plates move. There are four different ways that plates move. Subduction, when one plate goes under another, it can result in above ground volcanic activity. Divergent plate movements are when a plate moves away from itself, which causes underground volcanic activity. Transform boundaries are when plate move so that they brush against each other, like their slipping and sliding. Collisional boundaries are when plates crash into each other creating things like mountains.

SP2: Developing and using models
This week in class we used a gizmo online model to see how each of the plates move in different ways. It was hard to see how the transform boundary moved at first but we finally figured it out. We then used our knowledge gained from the Gizmo model to fill out a worksheet that the teacher had made for us. It was really helpful.

Layers of the Earth 03/09

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Earth%27s_Inner_Layers_denoting_the_LAB.png

Summary: This week in class we learned about the layers of the earth. There are 4 layers in the earth: The Crust, The Mantle, The Outer Core, and The Inner Core. The Crust is the thinnest layer of the Earth and the one you are standing on. The Mantle is the thickest layer of the earth and it is made up of semi-solid rocks. The Outer core is the third layer of the Earth and is the only layer made out of liquid. The Inner Core is the inmost part of the Earth and the pressure is so great there that it is a solid ball.

SP2: Developing and using models
This week in class we developed a model of all the layers of the earth. We cut out parts of an image that represents a layer of the Earth. we then glued fact about the layer next to it on a foldable. After that we glued labels on to each layer of the Earth. We will use the model to help us remember about the layers of the Earth when we need to use them.

Why We Shouldn't Drill in ANWR

Have you ever wondered, if America was running out of oil? The answer is no; America has a large amount of oil located in Alaska, in a place called ANWR, which stands for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Some people say that drilling is what we need to do. I think that there are much better reasons to not drill in the arctic. It is definite that this will improve the environment of the entire world, not just America.

Drilling in the ANWR will hurt all of the ecosystems that it encompasses through Alaska. It is a large 1.5 million acre land, which is 4 time the size of massachusetts. "More than 200 species make the refuge home including: Caribou wolves, Arctic fox, 36 species of fish and millions of birds." -NG If we were to drill there than millions of animals would have little places left to go, which would cause them to die off, which will have horrible effects on the ecosystem of alaska as a whole.

The ANWR is one of the few places on earth that remain untouched by humans. If we start drilling in the ANWR then we are ruining the landscape of a place, which might be able to lead us into the past of our speicies and the planet. "It remains much the same as it was about 10,000 years ago" Bob Reiss wrote in an article covering the topic. It would also destroy the oceans, which also hold many secrets to humanity.

Some people say that Alaska needs the money to survive because that is where most of their income comes from. It is true that the oil industry provides jobs for about 1/3 of Alaska's total population, this would also be a good way to switch from oil to a renewable energy source. If Alaska stopped employing people into the oil industry they can work in places that use solar or water energy. It has already been proven that gas emissions have better effects on the environment than oil like in this article: https://news.energysage.com/health-environmental-benefits-of-solar-energy/ on Energy Sage.

I think that we should not drill in the ANWR because it will do no good for the environment and make Alaska create no new opportunities for the future. This will make the millions of animals that live in the arctic lose their habitats, which will in turn mess up other ecosystems. It will also make us lose the opportunity to see more into our past and destroy evidence that will help us find our past. Lastly it will also make Alaska not turn to renewable energy, which helps the environment. So that is why I think that we should stop the government from drilling for oil in Alaska and switch to renewable energy.

Africanized Bee 02/16

Summary: This week in class my teammate learned about the Africanized Honeybees. Africanized Honey bees are an invasive species that were created in a lab to make more honey than the average bee. While the Bee makes more honey they are also highly defensive and will not hesitate to kill threats to the hive. They have currently gone to South California and many southern parts of the U.S and all throughout Middle America

Backwards Looking:
I knew quite a lot about invasive species before working on this project. But I did not know much about the Americanized Honeybee, in fact; I had no idea they even existed. Some things I did learn about invasive species is that they have almost no natural predators and that all they do is feed while providing nothing for the ecosystem.

Inward Looking:
This piece shows how I can hone in on a specific topic and learn about the specific topic entirely. I went from the very broad topic of invasive species as a whole, then chose the Africanized honey bee and learned all about it. I learned about its origin how it behaves and good ways to stop the species from coming into ecosystems that are no theirs.

Outward Looking:
I would give this project a B. I would give the project a B because it gets the information across nicely but it is not visually appealing. It is more text heavy and requires more images than text. We went with a more text driven project though because it was the easiest way to convey what the species is all about and how to stop them.

Forward Looking:
One goal I would like to set for my self next time is to put more effort in. While I am happy with my current project I would like to have it be more visually appealing rather that just going for the easy way out and just making it text based. I want to get it done being better than just putting less time and effort into it than it truly deserved.

Invasive Species 02/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIgysZ5Hho8

Summary: This week in class we learned about Invasive Species. An invasive species is an animal that goes into ecosystems from, which it did not originate, and hunt for food. This breaks the ecosystem because the animal has no natural predators and will just eat prey that hasn't adapted to defend from the animal. A lot of invasive species  come over on boats and through human transportation.

SP6: Constructing explanations and designing solutions
This week in class teams of two researched various invasive species an several documents, and found out how people are helping the cause and various other solutions to the invasive species problem. They then compile this information into some way of presenting it, like a video, or some sort of info graphic.

Symbiosis 02/04/18

https://lkosto.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/symbiosis-scoreboard-finished/

Summary: This week in class we learned about symbiosis. Symbiosis is an interaction between animals that can: Help, Harm, or Do nothing to an animal in the interaction. There are three types of symbiosis: Mutualism, Commensalism, and Parasitism. Mutualism is when two organisms benefit from an inter action, like in the sea where small animals clean out the mouths of larger animals, which gives them food. Commensalism is when one animal benefits and nothing happens to the other, like when Orchids grow on trees, the Orchids are getting sunlight and the trees are unaffected. Lastly, Parasitism is when one animal benefits and the other is harmed, like how leaches and suck your blood, which can lead to death.

SP1: Asking questions and defining problems
This week in class we asked about what the different types of symbiosis do. We asked specifically about how they affected the animals involved and if it helped, harmed, or did nothing to the animal in question. We also asked why do animals need to depend of each other to survive in the world because wouldn't it be better if there was more of the animal rather than it being hunted for food.

Biotic and Abiotic 01/21

https://socratic.org/questions/is-sunlight-a-biotic-factor-or-an-abiotic-factor

Summary: This week in class we learned about Biotic and Abiotic factors. Biotic and Abiotic factors are both parts of any ecosystem. The Biotic parts of an ecosystem are anything in the ecosystem that is alive, such as grass or birds. The Abiotic parts of and ecosystem are the parts that aren't alive, like: water, or dirt. Both are super important because: If there was no more dirt then plants would die out and everything that ate plants would die out too and everything that ate those animals and so on.

SP1: Asking questions and defining problems
This week in class we asked questions about how Biotic and Abiotic factors affect one
another in the ecosystem. We also asked the question what if one thing disappeared, 
how would that effect the environment. We also defined what different Biotic and Abiotic 
factor there were in a specific ecosystem.

Energy 01/14

http://www.tech-faq.com/how-is-chemical-energy-used.html

Summary: This week in class we learned about energy. Energy is the thing that powers all organisms. There are many different types of energy, like: Thermal, Light, Electric, and Chemical. The thing about energy is it cannot be created. Though it cannot be created energy can be transformed, like when you plug in and iron, the electric energy goes from the outlet into the iron and then turns the iron hot, making the electric energy thermal energy.

SP2: Developing and using models

This week in class we used online models to show how energy cannot be created but is 

transformed. We also used a model on plants to show why all organisms need energy to 

live and thrive. The model about why plants need energy showed us how plants transform

the energy from light energy to chemical energy, and where the energy is used in cellular

respiration.